The Interference Re:Coded
by Newbie-Spud
Summary: To solve the final mystery of Jiminy's Journal and the dataspace, King Mickey calls upon a younger version of Alexander to guide Sora through the trials of Castle Oblivion.
1. Part 1

**The Interference Re:Coded**

**Part 1  
**

It had all started with a little scrutiny.

Alexander, the Interference of their worlds, had already left for his own home – the "Real World" that had existed before theirs. Which was probably the right thing to do. Alexander probably had a family on the other side; people that would miss him if he was gone for too long. No one knew what the rules for this Interference phenomenon were, but it was probably the sort of thing that was meant to be kept secret.

With the events of the video game Kingdom Hearts II closed, everyone else went their separate ways. Sora, Riku, and Kairi remained on their island world, home at last after many years stranded elsewhere. Axel was transported to the world of Radiant Garden, where – after some long talks with Squall and the rest of the Restoration Committee – he was allowed to stay and help rebuild. As for Mickey Mouse, Donald, Goofy, Chip, Dale, and Jiminy Cricket; they all returned to Disney Castle.

There, in the comfort of their own home, Jiminy had taken the time to look back at the journals he'd written – the chronicles of Sora's first and second adventures. Every detail of two fantastic journeys was now sitting quietly in those two books, or at least they should've been. The truth was, the only thing written in the first journal had been a single sentence:

'Thank Naminé.'

The rest of the pages were blank.

Who exactly was this Naminé? Jiminy didn't know, but he figured that these were the only words this book was meant to hold, and it was time to close it for good.

Until he saw, in the very last page of the book, the second sentence:

'Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it.'

Those were the words that started yet another journey.

* * *

King Mickey, in his wisdom, realized that an utter lack of words didn't mean the journal was empty. He commissioned Chip and Dale to set up a device that could represent the worlds inside the journal as data.

When they used it, however, they immediately discovered that the data was corrupted. Software bugs taking the forms of blocks and Heartless were rendering analysis impossible. Fortunately, they had a way in of sorts – the data version of a young Sora was inside, uncorrupted by the bugs. With his representation of the Keyblade, they were able to debug the journal and restore the data worlds.

Of course, the journey involved was a little more complicated than that.

Jiminy's journal, having attained some sort of sentience in the machine, compartmentalized its data into a different form to protect itself from the bugs. It decided to take on the data representation of Riku wearing a dark cloak. Of course, Mickey and the gang didn't figure this out until they found themselves trapped INSIDE the journal, brought in by Data-Riku. They had to team up with Data-Sora to find a way back out.

Unfortunately, Maleficent and Pete had come out of hiding and stumbled upon Mickey Mouse's little project. Not quite understanding what they were dealing with, the devilish duo got trapped in the data worlds as well. They ended up making things worse, their actions culminating in the corruption of Data-Riku in the bugged representation of Hollow Bastion.

Data-Sora was forced to perform one final super-debug throughout the entire journal. In doing so, they managed to reveal the source of the bugs, and it was a doozy: The data representation of Sora's Heartless, from when he'd lost his heart in Hollow Bastion, was the ultimate culprit of the journal's corruption! It was feeding on all the bugs that Data-Sora was debugging, and it wished to escape into the real world as a powerful new Heartless!

The Heartless managed to knock out Pete and Maleficent, but Data-Sora overcame the monster's incredible power in one long final battle. With Mickey's help at the very end, Sora separated the Heartless from the rest of the bugs and destroyed it for good.

With the journal completely debugged, everyone was able to escape from the data world. Unfortunately, it also meant that Data-Sora would lose his memory of this adventure as the journal restored itself to normal.

One bittersweet goodbye later, and the Disney characters found themselves back in Mickey's study.

* * *

Mickey sat in his chair, looking at the monitor. Donald and Goofy stood on either side of him, and Chip, Dale, and Jiminy Cricket stood on the table itself, all of them also watching. On the screen was a cartoonish sprite of Sora, jumping up and down beneath the words, "Thank you!" A sweet gesture from the inhabitants of the datascape.

As they took a collective breath, a thought occurred to Goofy. "Hey, ya know... we never did figure out that mysterious message."

Donald let out something between a sigh and a moan. Goofy was right, but they'd hit a complete dead-end now that the journal and its contents were restored.

The duck tapped his fingers on the desk for a while, then cried out as the monitor suddenly flickered with new activity. Multiple windows opened themselves on the screen – a few of them were views of Data-Riku in a white space, and the rest were scrolling data readouts in red text.

"_Guys, big news,"_ the voice of Riku announced from the machine. _"A new world has showed up inside the journal."_

This surprised the group. "What do you mean?" Goofy asked.

"_I've found another door leading to extra data,"_ Data-Riku explained. _"Somebody must have added it once all the other data was restored."_

An excited look appeared on Mickey's face. "And if we explore THAT world...!"

The Data-Riku on the screen nodded. The window showing his face resized itself to allow room for another one to appear below it. This new window showed the message, 'Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it.' _"Then we should get some answers about this message."_

"Great!" Mickey exclaimed. "Let's ask Sora to–"

Donald gasped and put his hands over his beak.

"When we fixed the data," Goofy pointed out, "everything in the journal went back to the way it started, remember?"

Jiminy Cricket looked thoughtful. "Which means that Sora's journey through the datascape – it never happened to him. Why, now he's just the same boy he was before he met any of us."

"_I'm fine, my partition isn't affected,"_ Data-Riku interjected. _"But Sora – we can't send him out there when he doesn't know what's going on."_

Donald and Goofy drooped in resignation. Mickey looked at everyone and got a little worried himself. But as he sat in his chair, staring at the table, an idea came into the mouse's mind. "Chip, Dale. Do you think we could get Jiminy's _second_ journal and load it into the datascape?"

The two chipmunks looked extremely surprised. "What? What do you want to do that for?" Chip wondered aloud.

But Dale was not nearly as questioning. Turning to Chip, he said, "Maybe... Hey, you think we could use the-" The two chipmunks lowered their voices to excited whispers for a few seconds. Then, they turned to Mickey simultaneously and saluted. "WE'RE ON IT!" they said simultaneously, and ran off the table.

The cricket remaining on the table looked up to Mickey. "Pardon me, Your Majesty, but what do you want with the second journal? There aren't any missing pages or hidden messages in that one."

Mickey nodded. "But it _does_ have one thing that can help us solve this mystery!"

Everyone gave the King a confused look.

"Alexander!"

There was a collective "Aah!" of understanding around the table. But the Data-Riku on the monitor looked confused. _"Who is Alexander? There's no mention of him anywhere in the journal."_

Mickey Mouse smiled. "That's because he wasn't part of Sora's first adventure, only the second one. He's actually a visitor from a reality beyond ours, which means he has special knowledge of our world."

Goofy caught on to Mickey's reasoning. "Right! This whole datascape thing might've been part of a game!"

Donald finished the thought. "If Alex played it, he'll know what to do here!"

Mickey nodded. "Alex has done a good job of guiding Sora in the past. We might be sending Sora out there blind, but we won't be sending him alone."

"So..." Jiminy said, "you want to take Alexander from my second journal and put him into the datascape?"

"Alex left for his own world," Mickey explained. "This is the only way to get his knowledge now."

"Good thing we can do it!" Chip's voice rang out from below.

Chip and Dale hopped up onto the table, the two of them carrying a device that looked like a golden button with a gear around it. Scurrying as quickly as they could, they dropped it onto the table next to the machine. Chip jumped onto the button and immediately jumped off. In a giant puff of smoke, the button had expanded into a small glass container similar to the larger one housing Jiminy's first journal. A thick tangle of wires connected the smaller module to the main machine.

Chip and Dale inserted Jiminy's second journal into the container and pressed a switch on the main console's keyboard. A bright, piercing light shot down from the top of the module and hit Jiminy's journal.

On the main screen, all the other windows except Data-Riku's view left the screen. Pictures of worlds like Twilight Town, The Land of Dragons, and Port Royal appeared on the screen as data was loaded into the system.

"_The second journal is loaded,"_ Data-Riku announced. _"...No bugs in this one."_

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Mickey smiled and looked up at the monitor. "Riku. Can you help me get back into the datascape one more time?"

* * *

With the night of Twilight Town fading away to the dawn above him, Alexander Karsath slunk out of his apartment. He made sure to be as quiet as possible as he slipped out his front door and locked it behind him.

The boy - dressed in a green T-shirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers - was as apprehensive as he was determined. Today was the sixth day of his adventure in Twilight Town, which meant it was also the all-important sixth day of Kingdom Hearts II. And Alexander was ready for what lay ahead.

After checking to make sure there wasn't anybody on Market Street, which there shouldn't be at this hour, he swiftly ran down the stairs and started making his way to the Usual Spot. He'd already prepared the note he was going to leave there - it was his last thing to do before he headed for the mansion.

But as he rounded the corner from Station Heights into the back alley, he was met with a curious sight. An extremely familiar, but curious sight.

Standing with his back to him, holding a blue Keyblade out to his side, was unmistakably Mickey Mouse. The iconic Disney character wasn't even wearing the black Organization coat, instead donning his normal traveling clothes.

"Alexander," Mickey said slowly. "This was the day that your journey began. I know... because I was here, too."

Finally, Mickey turned around to face Alexander, smiling. "It's time for the truth."

The young, almost-15-year-old Alex just stared blankly. "Uh," was his eloquent response.

Mickey approached Alexander casually, dismissing the Keyblade as he walked up to the boy. "I know you're from another world, Alex. I know this was originally a video game for you."

This didn't seem to make Alexander any more comfortable. "Oh...!"

"You've got knowledge that no one else in all the worlds does – and now I need you to use that knowledge to help us out!" The mouse held his gloved hand out in an offering gesture. "What do you say?"

Instinct took over at that point. This was all too sudden for Alex to process what the heck was going on, but a part of him knew there was **no way** he'd pass up a chance to help King Mickey. He quickly and nervously shook Mickey's hand. "O-Of course! Anything, anything you need." But then he retreated a bit, his brain catching up to him, and said, "Ah, but I've got some stuff to do today, and..."

"Don't worry, you'll be back in time to go on your adventure," Mickey promised him.

Alex's brain demanded _HOW?_ But his mouth uttered, "Alright."

Mickey turned around and stood still for a few seconds. Then, all of a sudden, a bright flash of light occurred in the alleyway, right in front of the mouse. Where there was nothing before, there was now a bright blue portal in the ground, surrounded by rings of... what looked like numbers, data, and code.

"Come on!" Mickey called out, and jumped into the portal. Alexander nervously walked to the edge and peered down, but the portal looked little more than a pool of swirling blues and greens. He had no idea what this was or where it led, so he was going to have to take a leap of faith on this one.

He didn't think Mickey Mouse would lead him into a deathtrap, but the paranoid part of Alex's mind wouldn't stop screaming at him.

Finally, Alexander shut his eyes tight and willed himself to jump into the portal. A tingling sensation passed over him as he disappeared into the blue light, the portal closing behind him.

* * *

His eyes were still closed, but Alex could tell he was in freefall for a few seconds before he suddenly... was standing on solid ground again. Not falling to his death.

Alexander dared to open his eyes. He blinked a couple of times, and realized he was in a completely different place.

He was in Traverse Town.

An avid Kingdom Hearts player like himself would find the First District impossible to miss. And he was standing in the exact middle of it, right in front of the stairs leading up to the accessory shop.

Like in Twilight Town, Alex was rendered dumbstruck by the realization of _'I'm here, I'm actually here!'_ He turned around in circles several times, taking in all the sights and the detail that the game never had.

Eventually, though, his logical thought processes caught up to the rest of him and asked the obvious question: "Why are we here?" Traverse Town was part of the first game only, wasn't it? He'd shown up at the beginning of the _second_ Kingdom Hearts game – he knew that for a fact. What did King Mickey Mouse want in an old world?

And where was His Majesty anyway?

"Alex!" the mouse's voice rang out from above him. Alexander climbed the stairs and turned to see Mickey Mouse walking out from the alley on the left side of the shop.

Coming out right behind him was the one and only Sora, protagonist of Kingdom Hearts. The _first_ Kingdom Hearts. Sora was in his original get-up from the first game, and looked exactly as young and confused as Alex remembered. What was going on?

"Great!" Mickey exclaimed with a wide smile. "Now I have both of you together!"

Sora and Alex were equally lost – that was to say, very lost. Sora asked the first questions: "Where am I? How'd I get here? And who are you?"

"The name's Mickey," the Disney mouse explained. "I've come here from another world." He gestured at Alex. "This is Alexander. I brought him here from yet another world."

"Seriously?" Sora asked incredulously, putting a hand to his chin.

Mickey stood between the two youths and looked back and forth at them. "Ya see, I brought you both here because somebody left me and my friends a message – 'Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it.' And you two are the only ones with the power to solve this mystery."

"Me? Why me?" Sora wondered.

"Ditto..." Alex muttered. He'd never heard of this mysterious message before.

As if to answer their questions, two things happened at once. A bright light appeared in Sora's hand, taking the form of the Keyblade, while darkness covered Alex's hand and solidified into the Lockshield.

"Woah!" Sora exclaimed, only barely familiar with the weapon in his hand.

Alex gulped, suddenly very nervous. "Um..." He didn't know much more about his weapon, and having it summon itself on cue put him very much on alert.

Sora and Alex looked at each other. Neither of them knew much, but they could somehow tell that the two weapons were connected, probably in a way they had yet to understand.

Mickey nodded at the reveal of the Keyblade. "Good. You lost your memory, but not your powers. Will you help me, Sora? I need to know the truth."

The Keyblade disappeared, and Sora put his hand on the side of his head. "...Gosh, but this is so weird. I don't even know you... Err, do I? Something about you does seem vaguely... Nah." He shook his head and became thoughtful again. "So this truth you're after, does it have to do with me?"

Mickey became concerned, which surprised Alexander. "Honestly, I'm not sure," the mouse replied. "But whatever it is, I get the sense it's something you need to know."

Sora nodded. "Hmm, fair enough..." He grinned at the diminutive King. "Alright, Mickey. Lead the way!"

With a chuckle, Mickey said, "Thanks, Sora!" He turned toward the other young man. "And what about you, Alex? Are you willing to help me find the truth?"

Alexander took a deep breath and sighed. There was so much about this he didn't understand, but one question reigned over them all. "Why do you need me?"

"Like I said before," Mickey stated, "I need your special knowledge to solve this mystery completely. You have context and perspective nobody else has. What's more..." He looked at Sora. "My friends and I aren't entirely sure what we're sending you into. But you might know it once you see it, and if you do, I'm counting on you to guide Sora."

Alex drooped a little. "You're not coming with us?"

Mickey shook his head. "I can't follow you, but I promise I'll be keeping an eye on you remotely."

The young man put a hand to his forehead. This entire situation was screwed up, and a part of him complained that going on this adventure was probably going to get him killed. It was one thing facing down Nobodies and Saïx when he could reasonably deduce exactly what was going on. It was another thing entirely to jump headfirst into an entirely unknown situation.

"I know this is all a little hard to swallow," Mickey added.

Alex lowered his hand and looked at Mickey. The youth wasn't sure how to feel about the little guy. The mouse was being frustrating with how little information he was sharing, but at the same time... Alex had a feeling he'd do the same thing himself in the King's situation. It was hard, but he was going to have to trust Mickey Mouse unconditionally on this one.

"Okay," Alex said finally. "I'm in. Let's solve this mystery."

"That's great!" Mickey replied. "Now, just hold out those weapons of yours." The mouse summoned his own Star Seeker Keyblade and raised it into the air. In front of the boys, a glowing, magical keyhole appeared where Mickey pointed.

Alex glanced worriedly at Sora, but the hero was already holding his Keyblade out towards the mysterious keyhole. Alexander swallowed and took on a similar pose with his Lockshield.

Rings of light closed in on the tip of Sora's Keyblade and the face of Alex's Lockshield. When they closed entirely, bright beams of light shot forth from both weapons and entered the keyhole simultaneously. There was a bright flare of light, and Alex could feel that strange tingling sensation again as the light blinded him entirely.

* * *

It took a few seconds for Alex's vision to clear up. When it did, though, he knew _exactly _where they'd teleported to.

Sora looked around. "So you think the truth's hiding somewhere in here, Mi... Mickey?" The mouse was nowhere to be found.

Alex sighed. "Mickey said he wasn't coming with us." He laughed nervously. "Heh, I guess that's why he sent me...?"

The young men looked around at the room they'd found themselves in. It was an almost perfectly rectangular room, a hallway leading up to a door. Everything except the door – the walls, the floor, the stairs leading up to the door, the pillars lining the room – were perfectly white. The door at the end of the room, the only door they could bother accessing, was tall and a pale yellow color.

Sora turned to Alex. "So... Alexander, right?"

"Yeah..." The young man had one of those 'I-can't-believe-this-is-happening' moments just then. The real Sora addressing him – even if it was the younger version for some reason – was more than a little surreal. "But... I guess you can call me Alex for short."

Sora nodded. "Right. Alex. So, you know where we are?"

Alexander felt slightly relieved. Finally, a question he could answer! "Actually, yes. This place is–"

He was interrupted by a strange, loud noise, like the sound of space warping around them. From nowhere, a figure dressed in a black Organization coat faded into view between the boys and the door.

Alex visibly jumped in surprise. Sora got into an aggressive stance. "Huh? Who are you?" the hero demanded.

"Me?" the black-robed figure asked, a male voice coming from the darkness under the coat's hood. "I'm nobody."

"Oh HA HA," Alexander cut in sarcastically, putting on his bravest face. He knew this had to be a humanoid Nobody of some kind, judging by the black coat.

The Nobody seemed to ignore him. "In this place, to find is to lose and to lose is to find. That's the way of things in Castle Oblivion."

"Castle Oblivion?" Sora echoed.

"Yeah, I was _just about to say that_," Alex muttered.

The Nobody looked directly at Sora. "Here you will meet people you know. People you miss." There was another flare of light, and then there was something in Sora's hand where there wasn't before. It was a Castle Oblivion card, with a portrait of the Destiny Islands world on its front. "Use that card and press on. You will find the truth that sleeps."

Then the figure faded from view, completely disappearing. "H-Hey!" Sora shouted, but it was no use. He stared at the card in his hand. "Use it how? Yeesh... That guy sure knew how to get under my skin."

Alex narrowed his eyes at where the Nobody had just been. "He's just being mysterious to creep you out." He folded his arms and thought for a moment. "As a matter of fact, what he said was good for us. We're looking for truth – he said there's truth to be found. That means we're on the right track."

"You really think so?" Sora wondered aloud.

"I know so," Alexander replied with a grin. Then he laughed and shrugged. "I dunno. Honestly, I've just had enough of getting creeped out by jerks in black coats."

Sora laughed. "Yeah..." He looked at the card in his hand again, then at the door ahead. "Do you know what we're supposed to do?"

_If it works exactly how I remember it,_ Alexander thought to himself. "I'm... pretty sure that card opens the door. What we find is, well, an illusion of a world based on the card. We'll have to get through that world-illusion-thing to make progress, I think."

Sora scrutinized the card and scratched the back of his head. "How does that work?"

"Magic," Alex deadpanned.

The Kingdom Hearts hero grinned. "Works for me!" He walked up the stairs to the door, and Alexander followed.

"Let's start this thing?" Alex half-asked, looking at Sora as he approached the door itself.

"Yep," Sora replied. He held up the card to the door. A dense fog surrounded them for a moment, and then there was a bright flash of light from the door. This time, Alex had the sense to cover his eyes.

* * *

When the light faded, they were in a completely different room. No longer symmetrical, this large, spacious area had paths and higher plateaus. There were several projections of images from Destiny Islands on the walls, but other than that the architecture and coloring of the room was exactly the same as Castle Oblivion. This was not the full-scale illusion from Chain of Memories, Alexander realized, but a view into the illusion itself.

Sora looked around, apparently confused by what the card had done. "What happened?"

The Nobody appeared out of nowhere again. "That card you used will allow you to see people. Illusions, who come from Jiminy's journal – the very same data you fixed."

"I fixed what?" Sora asked, still confused. "Who's Jiminy?"

"Data?" Alex also repeated. "What does the journal have to do with this?"

"Oh, my mistake," the Nobody muttered. "Did someone hit the reset button on your memory? And you," he added, looking at Alex, "you must be completely new here. Just the same, you'll remember the folks you meet in this room."

Sora traded out confusion for indignation. "That makes zero sense. So we're going to meet these... illusions, and then..."

"Do whatever you want," the Nobody finished.

"Huh?" Sora mumbled.

"There's no script you have to follow. The journal's the closest thing you've got, but that doesn't mean you'll see the things it says." The Nobody shook his head. "And you know, who really cares? Everything that happens here, everything you meet is an illusion."

"So we can just do _whatever_," Alex muttered, trying to sum up the Nobody's point.

"Anything you want," the Nobody insisted. "But remember – the things that you find depend on the actions you take."

With that, the Nobody disappeared again. Sora tried to reach out – "Hey, come back!" – but the enigmatic figure was gone too quickly. "He's gone."

Alexander scowled. He'd acted tough before, but now things had gone back to not making sense. This was not part of any game he'd ever played, so the Nobody's words were _actually_ mysterious instead of just being cryptic. Alex found that rather infuriating.

Sora looked up the path and became surprised. "Hey, is that...?"

Up ahead was none other than Selphie, Sora's friend from the islands. Or rather, the illusion of her provided by Castle Oblivion. Not that it looked like an illusion – it was a real odd juxtaposition, having the real flesh-and-blood Selphie standing amongst the white walls and pictures of Destiny Islands.

"Selphie!" Sora exclaimed. "What are you doing in a place like this?"

The girl looked incredibly confused. "Uh, hello? I practically LIVE on this island."

"This... 'island?' You mean 'castle,'" Sora corrected her, looking around at the room.

Selphie gave Sora a sad smile and shook her head. "No, I mean 'island,' but we can make-believe it's a castle if you want."

Sora folded his arms and suppressed a sigh. "I'm not sure I'm the one playing make-believe here..." He looked to Alex and whispered, "He said everything that happens here is an illusion. I wonder what Selphie sees. Unless..." He put a hand to his head. "...she's the illusion?"

The young girl looked at Alex. "Sora, who's your friend here?"

Alex jumped a little. "Oh! I'm, uh, new here. Alex... is the name. I'm just visiting."

Sora gave Alex a look. Alex responded by whispering back, "If she is an illusion, better just play along, right?"

"You boys are acting so WEIRD today!" Selphie remarked. Focusing on Sora, she added, "And where have you been, anyway? Would you look at the island? We're up to our ears in blocks!"

Alexander had somewhat noticed the blocks before, but he'd just assumed they were part of the illusion. Now that he looked at the red-and-black, five-cubic-foot blocks, he realized that they looked incredibly out of place, even for Castle Oblivion. And every nook and cranny of this room was practically filled with the things.

Sora folded his arms as he regarded the obstacles. "Blocks... Didn't I... Nah, can't be."

Selphie frowned. "This is totally ruining my day. Do me a favor and find out where the blocks came from."

The Keyblade Wielder shrugged and nodded. "Okay!"

Selphie smiled back. "Thanks, and good luck. I expect a thorough investigation!"

Sora and Alex took their leave and headed for one group of blocks obstructing the path to the right. There wasn't much chance of climbing over or moving around them – they filled the path from wall to wall. Alex tried pushing against the blocks, but they didn't budge.

Then Sora summoned his Keyblade and gave the blocks his best whack. The blocks in the arc of his swing were crushed and disappeared into nothing.

"Woah!" Alex exclaimed. "Okay, let me try." He summoned his Lockshield and gave one of the remaining blocks a slice from the blade of his shield. His swing was weak, however, and the shield simply glanced off.

Alexander swung again, with more force this time, and the block shattered and faded away. "Whew! Okay, that's cool." He glanced at Sora as he cleared out the rest of the blocks in their path. "But you're definitely stronger than me right now."

"Yeah, I don't know," Sora said with a shrug. "I've only had this thing for, like, an hour. But I feel like I've had it for much longer."

"Like you're Level 60 while I'm just Level 5?" Alex muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

With the blocks clear, the duo was able to continue through the room. Almost immediately past the wall of blocks was Wakka, one of the other Destiny Islands residents.

"Hey! Sora!" Wakka called out as the boys approached. "Things are getting' hairy here, ya? You okay, brudda?"

Sora wasn't sure how to respond. "Um... It's... been an... interesting day?" Playing along seemed like the best option, but Sora was clearly uncomfortable with it at that moment.

Alex waved meekly. "Hey. Alex. Visiting."

"That's great," Wakka replied dismissively. "Hey, could you check up on Tidus for me? He went to investigate the blocks."

"You can't do it yourself?" Alexander asked before he could stop himself.

Wakka shrugged. "He can't have gone too far, but you know him."

Sora nodded knowingly. "Might've gotten into some trouble. Sure, we'll check on him."

"That's great! Thanks." With that, Wakka walked away.

Then, out of nowhere, the Nobody appeared in front of them. "Don't let your memories rule your actions," the Nobody remarked. "Not when there are other possibilities to be found – other stories waiting to unfold."

The Nobody disappeared again. Sora frowned and turned to Alex. "Any idea what he's talking about?"

Alexander didn't answer immediately. He had some idea of what the Nobody was referring to. He knew what was supposed to happen in Kingdom Hearts II, for example, but there was the possibility he could change things with his actions, interfere with the natural course of events. Was the Nobody trying to urge them to do the same thing?

"I... dunno," Alex replied lamely. "Maybe. Maybe not."

The room ended a ways beyond Wakka, but there were platforms leading higher up in the room they could follow. Sora naturally jumped up each platform to get to the higher ground, but Alex had to do some serious climbing, something he wasn't quite used to at all.

The platforms led to a bridge formed of green blocks that faded in and out of existence, spanning the distance between the two tallest vantage points in the room. Tidus was standing on the otherwise unreachable platform.

The drop below the makeshift block bridge frightened Alex a little, so he was hesitant to cross the bridge that threatened to disappear beneath him. Sora, on the other hand, had no problem making it across with the right timing.

"That's okay..." Alex said after Sora crossed the bridge. "I'll just wait here..." There wasn't anywhere else to go in the room, Alex reasoned to himself.

Sora approached Tidus. Alex couldn't quite hear what they were talking about. Tidus seemed mischievous, like he knew something they didn't. Sora seemed surprised.

Then both of them got into a fighting stance. Alex could only watch in shock as the two friends dueled it out right there on the platform – Tidus with his staff, Sora with his Keyblade. But Sora was fast and strong; only a few whacks from his Keyblade later, and Tidus called out for mercy.

Sora and Tidus exchanged a few words after that. Tidus pointed in Alex's direction, and Sora followed with his eyes.

Alexander pointed at himself questioningly. Tidus shook his head and pointed again in Alex's direction.

Alex looked over his shoulder. Right behind him, completely unnoticed until now, was the black-robed Nobody. As soon as Alex flinched, however, the Nobody disappeared.

"What the...?" Alex's world went fuzzy for a moment, then it went dark.

* * *

They were back in the entrance hall, where they'd started. The Nobody appeared in front of them once more. "Well?" it asked. "Did you have fun hanging out with the ghosts?"

Alex rolled his eyes. Sora folded his arms and looked away in an indignant manner. "Hey, don't say 'ghosts!' Sure, something was a little off, but they're still my friends."

"You don't say?" the Nobody asked, suddenly sounding amused. He leaned in a little towards the boys and said, "What were their _names_ again?"

Alex's eyes went wide.

Sora scoffed at the Nobody. "Pfft, that's easy. There was–" And then Sora cut himself off. "What... No, no, I know them!"

"Oh no," Alex said very quietly, holding his head in his hands. "Oh no no no no no. It... It just happened five _seconds_ ago!" He wracked his brain for images, names, answers, but nothing came up. The last five minutes were simply gone – or at least, he assumed there were five minutes missing, because the last thing he remembered was Sora opening the door.

Their memories had been tampered with.

The Nobody stopped leaning in, but he now had a smug air of self-satisfaction about him. "Like I said – everything in this castle is an illusion. Your actions may lead to true endings or paradoxes, and each outcome will stay with you in the form of a card."

There was a new card in Sora's hand – a completely blue Castle Oblivion card with the same Destiny Islands picture as the one that had created the world-illusion.

The Nobody shook his head. "But once the illusions vanish, you'll forget all about your little reunion as if it never happened."

"What?" Sora exclaimed. Alex just stood there, shaking in anger.

"Hey, no big deal," the Nobody responded sarcastically. "The fact that you can't remember them just means they weren't important to you to begin with."

"Oh SHUT UP already!" Alexander suddenly shouted, pointing at the Nobody. "Don't pretend this wasn't your doing – that this wasn't your idea all along; your trap!"

The Nobody held his hands up defensively. "Woah, a little sensitive much? You're blowing this way out of proportion. These are _illusions_. Any memories you created with them aren't worth keeping anyway."

"That's a lie!" Sora exclaimed. "My friends are important to me! Okay, so maybe I forgot who they are... and what happened... But it'll come back to me. Just watch!"

"Hmm. If you say so," the Nobody responded noncommittally.

There was a flash of light, and five new world cards appeared in Sora's hands. Alexander took a deep breath and looked over Sora's shoulder at them. Sora didn't seem to know them, but Alex recognized them as Traverse Town, Wonderland, Olympus Coliseum, Agrabah, and Hollow Bastion.

"All of these were created from the data in the journal," the Nobody explained. "And all of them will show you more illusions. But from now on, they won't be your friends. You're fresh off the island, which makes them total strangers."

The Nobody put a hand on his hip. "Here's a fun little thought. The folks you're about to meet? You can use and abuse them all you like."

Alex glared at him. "Like you're abusing us?"

"Perhaps..." the Nobody said slyly. "And what do you care? They're all strangers, and illusions at that. Just empty bits of data. They can't tell what's real. They'll look at this castle and see the world they call home. Anyway, the truth would be wasted on them. They're only there until they're not."

They couldn't see his face, but it seemed like the Nobody was grinning. "See where I'm going with this? You can break the little hearts they don't have, and forget right away. No hurt feelings, no baggage." The Nobody looked directly at Alexander. "You can take out all your anger on them and walk away. It's 100% guilt-free."

Sora slumped a little. "No, it's not."

"Oh?" the Nobody said.

"I could never be mean to somebody I just met," Sora muttered. "If I hurt them, I'd regret it. And... even if I didn't remember what I did, the regret would stay with me. ...That's what you mean by hurt feelings, right? Why would I want to carry around that kind of hurt?"

The Nobody nodded. "And with that, you've arrived at the first question." And he disappeared.

"Huh?" Sora mumbled. "I really don't get that guy."

"He seemed to get **us**," Alexander growled. "Got into our heads pretty good there."

Sora looked at the cards in his hands. "So... These cards will show us people we don't remember meeting?"

"That **you** don't remember meeting," Alexander corrected him. "I know I haven't met..." He stopped himself. "At least, I think I haven't..." Suddenly, he wasn't sure about _anything_ anymore.

"Either way," Sora replied, "that actually sounds kind of fun."

"FUN?" Alexander yelled, slightly panicked now. "FUN? Since when is having our minds messed up FUN?"

Sora flinched at Alex's sudden reaction. "Woah, Alex. You okay?"

"No," Alexander muttered, putting his face in his hands. "No, I'm not. I'm NOT a fan of having my mind... my memories played with." Alex walked over to the stairs and took a seat there. "...I'm not sure I can do this."

"But..." Sora said, walking up to where Alex sat, "we promised Mickey..."

"Mickey didn't know what he was sending us into," Alex immediately objected. But he hesitated after that. Yes, they HAD promised Mickey they'd get to the bottom of this. Alexander sighed and held his head. "I don't know..."

"You said we were on the right track," Sora pointed out. "Isn't that still true? Isn't the truth through these cards?"

Alexander closed his eyes and stayed silent for a second. "There's gotta be another way..." he muttered under his breath.

Sora grimaced and looked at the door ahead. "We can't let this scare us. No matter how much it hurts, we'll just have to face it head-on. People are counting on us to pull through."

But Alex couldn't get the story of the Chain of Memories game out of his head. Running headlong into a memory-altering trap had nearly made Sora and his friends the puppets of Organization XIII. It didn't appear to be the same situation here, but... with his memories in an unknown state, Alex just couldn't be sure.

The young man lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Sora. I can't."

Sora was quiet for a little while. Then he faced the door with new determination. "Then I'll have to." The Keyblade hero walked to the door and held up one of the Castle Oblivion cards. Mist gathered around Sora, there was a bright flash, and the young man disappeared.

Leaving Alexander all alone in the castle's entrance hall.

Alex slammed a fist against the railing of the stairs in frustration. This was it, then? This was the extent to which he could help anyone in this world? He'd gotten all excited about his brand new Lockshield and joining up with Sora, Donald, and Goofy, and now he was cowering in the corner!

He hated this feeling, of having his newfound courage crushed by fear. He'd fought Saïx head on, for crying out loud! Why couldn't he do THIS?

"If it isn't the traveler from another journal," a voice interrupted his thoughts.

Alex flinched and stood, facing the Nobody that had appeared before him. "You again."

"Who else would it be?" the Nobody said sarcastically, with a shrug.

Narrowing his eyes, Alex very seriously replied, "Naminé."

Immediately, all of the Nobody's cool composure was gone, replaced by surprise and anger. "How did you–"

"Memories, Castle Oblivion, it doesn't take much to connect the dots," Alex said angrily, biting on every word. "So, what, this secret that Mickey sent us to find – it has something to do with her?" When the Nobody didn't answer right away, Alex added, "Well? Am I right on the money?"

"Pretty smug for a guy who was feeling sorry for himself a moment ago," the Nobody retorted. "So what if you're right? You still chickened out."

That stung, but Alex felt like he was on a roll, so he kept going. "What, is that annoyance I hear? I thought Nobodies didn't feel anything because they had no hearts. Or am I wrong about you... Roxas?"

Almost instantly, there was a Keyblade pointed just an inch away from Alex's forehead. It took Alex a second to realize it was the Oathkeeper Keyblade.

"You really want to go down this road?" the Nobody said calmly.

Alexander couldn't get himself to move, just frozen in fear as he stared down the weapon. At this distance, he could see how sharp the outside edges along the length were. Alex swallowed reflexively.

Finally, the Nobody lowered the Keyblade. "That's what I thought. For all your knowledge, you're too WEAK to follow us."

Yet another flash of light occurred, and Sora appeared back in the middle of the room in a daze. The Nobody dismissed his Keyblade and disappeared before Sora regained his senses.

Sora ran a hand through his spiky hair. "Hmm... That guy in the black coat wasn't kidding... Ugh, why can't I remember who I met in there?"

Alex grimaced, but chose not to mention his own encounter with the Nobody. "That's Castle Oblivion for you, unfortunately."

"It's not just that," Sora added. He put a hand lightly over his heart. "I feel funny. There's this... squeezing in my chest."

Alex swallowed, but didn't say anything. He'd been feeling a similar pain the whole time Sora had been gone, but he couldn't put a word to it.

"...I know," Sora finally said, his head lowered sadly. "It's heartache. I miss them."

That was it. But Alex's heartache hadn't really been about _missing_ anyone... It'd been shame of himself, anger at himself for not doing what he knew was right. A different heartache.

Sora suddenly perked himself up. "But wait... If I really forget completely, I shouldn't miss anyone. Which means... I DO remember some part of it!"

Alex wasn't reassured by this. "But... our memories still got _messed with_."

The Keyblade hero smiled at Alex. "The memory is gone, but the feeling's still there, isn't it? With the right trigger, I'm sure it would all come back. We just gotta keep looking."

"But..." Alex winced and looked at the door. "I... I don't know, Sora."

Sora just kept smiling and walked up the stairs toward the door. "That's okay. I'll figure it out for the both of us."

"WHAT? But-! RRGH!" Alex smacked his forehead in frustration and glared at Sora. "I shouldn't let you do this alone! I agreed to help! I...!"

Alex trailed off. He lowered his head, and then dropped to the stairs in a sulk. "I want to help, but I can't. I... won't."

But Sora just walked over to Alex and kept smiling. "C'mon, I know you're not like that. You just need some time to rest, okay?"

Alex shifted away, more to hide the tears welling up in his eyes than any other reason.

"You didn't know what you were getting into, I get that," Sora reassured him. "Neither of us did. Now, maybe I'm the kind of person who can keep going despite that... But you're not me. Maybe you just need to work yourself up to it, y'know. Mentally prepare yourself."

Alex lifted his head up from his sulk and thought. Sora had a point there.

Sora went back towards the door. "You take a break and get yourself ready." Before holding up the next card, he glanced back at the kid over his shoulder. "Then we'll solve this mystery together. Okay?"

The traveler finally looked at Sora, his expression part surprise and part humility. "...Okay."

With that agreement between them, Sora held up the Wonderland card up to the door. Mist closed in around him as the room got temporarily brighter, and then Sora disappeared into the illusion beyond the door.

Alone once again, Alex sat, rested, and reflected. But instead of anger or shame, there was just one thought on his mind, one that repeated over and over.

The young man allowed himself to smile a little. "Sora's a good friend to have," he said quietly.


	2. Part 2

**Part 2**

Up until now, Alexander's inner monologue had been nothing but negativity and self-reprimand. That was pretty much autopilot for his mind, even when he thought he was doing well.

After the last heartfelt conversation with Sora, however, Alex was feeling more... positive. Reassured. His thoughts weren't all about berating himself for his failures, but instead offering rationalizations for his weakness and offering ways to improve.

Saying it once didn't seem like enough, so Alex said it again: "Sora's a good friend to have." It was like a mantra at this point.

Once Alex had worked himself up to a more stable mental state, his thoughts turned towards tackling the problem at hand. What was he going to do once Sora returned?

Despite Sora's encouraging words, he still didn't want to put himself through one of the memory rooms again. Not quite yet. The thought of having his memories altered just... made him too uncomfortable to continue. But now that he wasn't wallowing in self-pity and shame, Alex realized that Sora would probably understand that if Alex was honest about it.

The problem, then, was figuring out how to help _at all_. Surely there was something he could do to help, something that didn't involve going through that door just yet.

There was another flash of light. Sora stood in the center of the hall once more, and the Nobody faded into view shortly afterward. "So," the black-coated figure said, "how was your time with– I'm sorry, who was it again?"

Sora folded his arms and looked away indignantly. "You know full well I can't remember."

The Nobody chuckled. "Heh. You seem pretty calm. Guess you decided they weren't stressing over. Out of sight, out of mind, right?"

Sora seemed to hold back a sigh, and simply lowered his head a little. "...Wrong. I forgot them, like you said, but I can still feel them." He lowered his arms from their folded position. "I feel a lot of things. Frustrated... Lonely... You said there would be no hurt feelings. But I am hurting."

The Nobody didn't interrupt or say anything. Alexander just listened intently from where he sat on the stairs.

Sora managed to grab onto a thread of hope. "But... That's a good thing, right? Each time the memories slip away, they leave a hole. They leave hurt. But that hurt is the key to getting the memories back."

"...Right on schedule," the Nobody said. Then he disappeared.

Alex put a hand over his face and sighed. Looking up at Sora, he smirked a little and said, "What a jerk, huh?"

The Keyblade hero wasn't taking things quite as well. "It'd be better if he wasn't saying all these confusing things."

Alex nodded.

Sora threw up his hands in mild frustration. "It's not enough that we're going through these rooms and forgetting what we do, but..."

"We?" the Interference asked.

"You know what I mean," Sora replied. "But on top of all that, he's sending all these mixed messages. Does he want us to remember, or does he want us to forget?"

That was the big question, Alex realized. If this was Roxas they were talking about, then he'd want Sora to remember him... Was that what this was all about? Restoring the memories that erased all evidence of... Roxas?

It was shaky, but it would have to be the running theory. Alex decided to share it with Sora for the moment.

"I think he wants you to remember, but..." Alex muttered, then trailed off. It made less sense when it came out of his mouth. He shook his head and stood up from the stairs. "I don't know."

Fortunately, Sora had caught on. "You got an idea? I'm all ears." He stood in front of Alex and looked directly at him. "If you know something, that is."

Alex looked around nervously. "Well, that's the thing. I do, but I'm pretty sure he's listening in..." Roxas appeared to be content to watch them squirm, but Alex wasn't sure of what the Nobody's reaction would be if he started revealing secrets.

So he'd have to play it safe.

"Alright, I can't say too much," Alexander admitted. "But suffice to say this guy is someone who's been forgotten, who wants to be remembered."

"How do you know all this?" the Keyblade wielder asked. "You've been... just a fountain of explanations since we got here."

"I..." Alex hesitated. "I know stuff, alright? I don't really know how I got in this situation where I know all this stuff, but..." He gave Sora a pleading look. "Let's... just focus on the task at hand. Please? I don't have a full grasp of that issue yet."

"Alright, alright." Sora put a hand to his chin. "So, this guy, what he's doing... Is this supposed to help me remember? By making me forget and go through all this hurt?"

That brought Alex's theory to a halt again. "Okay, let me think, let me think..." He started pacing back and forth. If this was Roxas, he'd want to get Sora to remember because he'd been through so much...

Alex smacked his fist into his palm. "That's it. That's the angle. This guy's been forgotten, yeah, but he's been forgotten for a long, LONG time. He's been through a lot of, well, crap." Alex smirked. "A lot of _hurt_, one might say."

A spark of insight appeared in Sora's eyes. "So... the reason he's putting us through all this..."

"It's out of spite," Alexander said.

"To make me feel how he must've felt, for so long," Sora continued.

"Creating a parallel," Alex muttered, thinking aloud at this point. "Making you hurt to remember just as much as it has hurt to be forgotten. Teaching you a lesson. Sending you a message."

There was one more step to this. Alex could feel it.

Alex and Sora looked directly at each other.

"_Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it_," they said simultaneously.

Alexander turned around to face the rest of the empty room and clapped his hands. "That's it!" he shouted out to the room. "Mystery solved! 'They,' the people who have been forgotten! 'Hurting,' the pain of being forgotten! 'Returning to end it,' finding and remembering those people! And who is returning to mend this hurting, when he returns to end it?"

Without turning, Alex pointed back at Sora. "None other than Sora. Everyone's favorite Keyblade chosen."

Sora looked a little confused, but he laughed a little. "Wow. Took a while to get you going, but..."

"Well, I have my uses," Alex said dismissively, a sheepish grin on his face. "I can't fight, but I can hypothesize like a pro."

The two of them stood there, in awkward silence, for several long seconds. No black-robed individuals were appearing out of nowhere.

"So... is that it?" Sora asked aloud. "Are we done?"

Alex grimaced. "I was hoping for some kind of reaction. I know he's listening, but..."

"What, then? Was that not the answer?" the Keyblade wielder said more than a little doubtfully.

The Interference looked back at the door to the illusions. "Maybe not the complete answer." He slumped a little. "I guess we're not done here. Not until we go through all of those illusions, I bet."

Sora pulled the three remaining Castle Oblivion cards out of his pocket. "I guess so. You ready to...?"

"Ah, geez..." Alex muttered, going a little pale at the prospect of having his memories altered. "I... don't think I'm... ready just yet." He looked back out at the empty room. "Besides... I'm pretty sure our black-coated friend is gonna want to have a private chat with me once you go inside."

Sora gave Alexander a little nod and walked up to the door. As soon as he presented the Olympus Coliseum card to the door, the boy disappeared in a flash of light.

In the next instant, there was a sharp, pointed object poking Alexander's cheek.

"Stop... talking," the Nobody muttered darkly.

Alex tried his best not to panic, but failed miserably. Fearing for his life all of a sudden, he put his hands up in a defensive gesture. "What's your PROBLEM?" he asked loudly, trying to be brave. "Aren't I doing what you want?"

The pointy object – the Oathkeeper Keyblade – pressed a little harder. Alex shut his eyes and started to worry he wasn't going to get out of this.

"You're messing it up," the Nobody growled, his voice dripping with malice Alex had never witnessed before. "He's supposed to _learn_. For himself."

"He's... He's learned!" Alex shouted fearfully, shaking a little bit. "You've hurt him a lot by doing this! I-Isn't that it? Weren't we right about that?"

Finally, the Keyblade was pulled back slightly, and it disappeared in a flash of light. Alex was still too nervous to move, but he opened his eyes and looked back at the Nobody. The stranger's face was still kept entirely black by the hood, so Alex couldn't read any reaction.

The uncomfortable silence lingered on, so Alexander just kept talking. "I-I wouldn't have figured it out if Sora hadn't gone through that stuff. I just... I just... y'know, put the pieces together! Sure, maybe that was ahead of your schedule, but...!"

"Stop," the Nobody said, and Alex did.

The Nobody just stared at him from under the hood for a few more seconds, during which Alexander wasn't sure what was going to happen.

Then the Nobody spoke again. And this time, the cloaked figure's usual air of smug superiority had returned. "There's still plenty left to learn. For both of you. The lessons aren't over yet."

Alex slowly lowered his hands, and he glared at the Nobody. "When will they be over?"

"When you get through the rest of the cards," the Nobody replied. "Or..." He started to fade away. "...when the pain becomes too much to bear."

He was gone. Alex was alone in the hall again.

The young man took a deep breath to calm himself. He knew he wasn't really alone – he was still being watched – but having a moment of peace was very desirable at this point.

Alex mentally rallied. They were clearly on the right track, perhaps even totally correct. But this situation was still in the hands of Roxas and... whoever else might be involved in this. No matter how much they protested, they weren't getting anywhere without the Nobody's consent. Which meant that Roxas was free to torture them as much as he wanted.

So the goal wasn't so much to obtain the truth anymore. It was to survive these trials.

* * *

A while later, there was another flash of light in the room. When it passed, Sora was back in the main hall with Alex. And immediately after that, so was the Nobody, standing in front of Sora.

"The sadness of knowing you forgot someone who matters – that'll gnaw at you forever," the Nobody said to Sora. "And you believe carrying around that kind of hurt will bring back the memories you lost? Really, Sora?"

Sora shrugged. "That's the theory."

The Nobody just chuckled.

Sora became a little hostile at this. "What's so funny?" he demanded.

"I just can't believe you fell for it so easily," the Nobody answered casually.

"Fell for what?" Sora asked cautiously.

The Nobody gestured at the hall in general. "I told you when you arrived. In this place, to find is to lose and to lose is to find. Well, you've lost your memories and found hurt in return. And by deciding that hurt was the key to remembering, you gave up all hope of ever being free of it!"

Alex, sitting at the steps near the door, listened intently to the conversation.

The Nobody laughed again. "Don't you see? The hurt owns you now, Sora. It's a wound that will never mend. That hole in your heart will grow bigger, and bigger, until darkness finally claims it!"

Sora was disturbed by this revelation. "So... this was all some trick to drag me into the darkness?"

"Afraid so," the Nobody said and shrugged. "And all it took was a handful of illusions. Your heart was just way too easy to break."

"But..." – Sora glanced past the Nobody at Alexander – "...that doesn't make sense. What about the people that need to be remembered? Aren't I going through this hurt for their sake?"

The Nobody shook his head. "You're talking about people who are so deep in darkness that they haven't seen light in years. People who were never meant to exist in the first place. Face it, Sora – it was never their destiny to be seen, ever again."

And with that parting statement, the Nobody disappeared.

Alexander stood up. "Well! That was morbid."

Sora... sighed. "I hate the fact that he's kinda right. This is getting tougher to do."

Alex blinked at that. "Wait, really?"

"Meeting people and then forgetting about them, not knowing what I did to them?" Sora said. "Yeah, that _really_ starts to hurt after a while. I can see why you didn't want to keep going with this."

"Well... geez..." Alex mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "You seemed like you had a handle on this not too long ago..."

"I still do," Sora replied. "I'm just starting to feel the pressure." The Keyblade's chosen looked at the illusion door, then back to Alex. "How about your theory? Do you still think this was all a trap to drag me into the darkness? That it's hopeless to save... whoever that message was talking about?"

Alex considered it for a moment, but then shook his head. "No, that can't be it. Though... he may personally feel that way about it." It was weird to use the word 'feel' when talking about a Nobody, but he knew Roxas was a special case. "But he's one of those people. If it was hopeless to save him, we wouldn't be doing this in the first place."

"Either way..." Sora pocketed the blue-colored card he'd gotten from the Olympus Coliseum trip and drew the unused Agrabah card. "...there's nothing to do but move forward, right?"

Alexander grimaced, but then became thoughtful. "...Maybe not. I... had an idea."

Sora pocketed the card. "I'm listening."

"W-Well..." Alex stuttered, not sure how to begin. "You know how I know a whole lot of stuff. Stuff that... by all rights, I really _shouldn't_ know?"

Sora nodded. "Like about this castle, and the guy who's putting us through these illusions?"

"Yeah, exactly," Alexander replied. "But I know a lot of other stuff, too. Maybe we can use that... to our advantage somehow. So..." He stood in front of Sora. "I'm going to need you to listen for a bit, and don't interrupt me until I'm done, alright?"

The Keyblade hero hesitated for a moment, but shrugged and nodded again. "Sure. Go for it."

"Okay. Hand me those cards." Alex received the Castle Oblivion cards from Sora, and he held up the Destiny Islands card. "You know this world? This is the world of your islands, Sora. We're talking about Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, Riku, and Kairi." He gestured towards the door. "When you used this card on that door, we probably entered an illusion of Destiny Islands, and we actually saw all your friends there." Then Alex gave back the Destiny Islands card.

Sora, wide-eyed, looked at the card in his hand. "How..."

"I know this stuff," Alexander said.

Sora put his other hand to his head as he stared at the card. "Well... Now that you mention it... I hadn't made the connection before, but yeah – this card actually looks like the island where we used to play..." He looked back up at Alex. "So... this card showed me my friends... and my world?"

Alex nodded. "Mmhmm. Which means you already know the people you met in that illusion."

"Wow," Sora mumbled, pocketing the card. Then he was hit by a flash of realization. "So that means I don't have to hold onto that hurt! I already know who they are, so I can find them! I don't really remember what happened in that room... but at least I know who they are."

Alexander smiled a little bit. "Does that help?"

"Yeah! Yeah, it does!" Sora answered enthusiastically. But then he looked at the other cards in Alex's hand and lost some of his steam. "But that's because I already know those people. I don't recognize ANY of the places on any of the other cards."

"That's why I'm going to tell you," Alex said, drawing the Traverse Town card. "This is Traverse Town. It's a world for those who have lost their worlds. You might remember we were there very briefly with King Mickey..."

* * *

"So! Olympus Coliseum. Exactly what it says on the tin. A grand coliseum where the Greek gods of Olympus watch powerful warriors do battle. If you were there, then you were _definitely_ fighting _something_ at some point. You probably met Hercules, a demigod, son of Zeus... Phil, his tough trainer who's also a satyr... and Hades, the dark god of the Underworld who's trying to usurp Zeus's domain, which includes the Coliseum. And there might have been this guy Cloud Strife, a powerful and mysterious warrior with his own agenda – slightly gullible guy, but ultimately his heart's in the right place. So yeah, Olympus Coliseum – the place where the strongest dudes go to fight monsters."

Sora took back the Olympus Coliseum card, completing the set of Castle Oblivion cards he'd already explored. "Woah... I went _there_?"

"Well, you went to an illusion of it, but..." Alex wasn't quite sure how to proceed with that question for a moment, but then figured it out. "It's definitely a real place that you'll probably encounter in your future travels."

"Wow... I can't wait to meet these guys for real!" Sora said excitedly.

Alex laughed. "I'm glad you like it. I probably wouldn't fare so well, but you'd fit right in!"

"Aw, c'mon!" Sora jabbed back. "Give yourself a little credit."

Alexander chuckled and waved his hand in a "so-so" gesture. "I'm a little too _bookworm_-y for their tastes, I think. You've at least been fighting most of your life, y'know, in practice. I ain't got much experience."

"Quit being such a downer, Alex," Sora said with a grin.

"Okay, okay," Alex replied, still grinning back. The conversation came to a small lull, and Alexander gestured at the door at the end of the hall. "So... Feeling a little better?"

"A little," Sora said with a nod. "Not a lot, but a little. None of this is really jogging any memories of what I actually _did_ in those rooms, or who I actually met. I still can't be sure." He smiled at Alex. "But you've given me the most likely possibilities, not to mention names and descriptions. Now I'm a little less lost than before."

Alex smiled and let out a deep breath. "Good! Good. Anything I can do to help, even if it's just taking the edge off the hurt."

"Hey," Sora interjected, putting a hand on Alex's shoulder. "I appreciate it."

Not one to take such heartfelt praise very well, Alex backed away before his emotions overwhelmed him. "Thanks. That means a lot to me. Now, we still have two cards to deal with."

"We sure do," Sora agreed. He took back the Agrabah card from Alex. "Are you coming in with me?"

Alexander shook his head, not lacking confidence this time. "Nope. I'll just be the guy debriefing you when you come out. Does that work?"

Sora climbed the stairs to the door. "Works for me." He approached the door itself, held up the Agrabah card, and disappeared in a flash of light.

Alex _immediately_ ducked. But no Oathkeeper Keyblade tried to occupy the space where his head just was. Relieved he wasn't about to be ambushed by Roxas again, Alexander let out a deep breath and relaxed.

Then a black-gloved hand reached from behind and covered his mouth, while a Keyblade's edge came to rest against his throat.

"You think you're clever, huh?"

Alex struggled for a second, but the Keyblade pressed harder against his neck as a warning. The Nobody started to drag Alexander back toward the door.

"You think you can go through this whole thing without a little pain? That you can just trick the universe into giving you what you want at no cost? Well, I'm here to tell you – you're not as smart as you think you are."

The Nobody spun Alex around and kicked him toward the door. Alexander barely maintained his balance.

"And I'll prove it with a quick question: Who has the last card right now? The Hollow Bastion card?"

Alex's eyes went wide. There was a bright flash in his pocket, and the hall filled with bright light. "NO!"

And then he was gone.

* * *

Sora reappeared in the entrance hall, more than a little dazed from having his memories freshly modified, but shook himself out of it and looked around. The hall was completely empty.

"Alex?"

The Nobody appeared in front of Sora again.

"It's not too late to run," the stranger said.

Sora took a cautious step back. "What?"

"You can still be free of the hurt," the Nobody explained. "Just tell yourself you forgot them because they don't really matter. You'll have no one to miss. No cause for loneliness. No hurt to keep eating away at your heart."

Sora kept looking around. "Where did Alex go?"

"It's your call, Sora," the Nobody continued, ignoring the question. "Cling to the memories you've lost and the hurt they bring until it drags you into the darkness. Or... you could just let it all go. Be free. Be happy!"

"WHERE. IS. ALEX?" Sora shouted, drawing out the Keyblade in a flash of light. "You did something with him, didn't you?"

The Nobody didn't even flinch. If anything, he seemed to become even more smug. "You don't honestly miss him, do you? You do realize he was just manipulating you?"

Sora didn't have an immediate answer for that.

"He knows about us, Sora. About you, me, this place, everything. And he used that knowledge to get inside your head. He made you rely on him, made himself your best friend. He knows everything about you, but you've learned almost nothing about him!" The Nobody shook his head. "Is that what you want for a friend, Sora? A parasite?"

"He was trying to help!" Sora rebutted. "And I _have_ learned something about him. I know he doesn't think highly of himself. I know he's really careful and secretive. But I also know he really wants to help however he can."

Sora got back into his fighting stance and glared at the Nobody. "That's why I know he wouldn't just leave!"

The Nobody chuckled. "You've got more important things to worry about. Are you going to hold onto the hurt until the darkness takes you, or are you going to let go?"

Sora shook his head. "No. My mind's made up. I want to carry this hurt with me. With friends like Alex helping me, it won't drag me into darkness anytime soon. I can only be free of it the day I remember, but until then, it's what holds together the pieces I left behind... and I accept it."

The Nobody flinched, actually shocked by this. "You... accept it? Heh! HA! Don't make me laugh!"

There was one more flash of light. Suddenly, they were standing on a broad platform with pillars along the outer rim, suspended in a purple and red void. The floor was white marble with gray Nobody symbols patterned on it. The Oathkeeper Keyblade appeared in the Nobody's left hand, while the Oblivion Keyblade appeared in its right hand.

"It's time you learned what real hurt FEELS LIKE!" Roxas yelled, and charged at Sora.

* * *

Whacking the rear wall of the first room with the Lockshield wasn't going to work, Alex realized. There was no door, and it wasn't like this wall was actually adjacent to the main hall – it was just illusion.

Not to mention, Alex wasn't strong enough to break down solid walls. That was probably a bigger factor.

The problem was that moving forward through the Hollow Bastion illusion was definitely NOT an option either. Defenders, Wizards, and Invisibles? That sounded like a great way for a Level 5 fighter like Alex to get killed very quickly.

So he was stuck. Roxas had trapped him in this illusion. And since Sora didn't have the cards anymore, he was throughly, utterly stranded.

"Great," Alex muttered aloud. "Just great. Just utterly fantastic." He slid down against the wall and sulked. He'd gotten to the Kingdom Hearts universe like he wanted, but now he was going to die because he couldn't keep his mouth shut...

"_Alexander."_

He jumped a little at that. A young woman's voice, reverberating through the air. Or was it in his mind? "Y-Yeah?"

"_I'm sorry, Alex. It wasn't meant to turn out this way."_

"W...what?" Alex said slowly. He thought he recognized the voice, but he wasn't sure. "...Naminé?"

A strange sound came from the wall he was leaning against, so Alex quickly got up and turned around. Right next to where he'd been sitting formed a bright blue portal, growing larger until it was tall enough for him to walk through. Just like the portal Mickey had summoned back in Twilight Town, it was surrounded by blue and green swirling data.

"What in the world...?" Alex muttered to himself, before immediately jumping through the portal. If Naminé wanted him to jump through a strange gate to get him out of being stranded, then who was he to argue?

* * *

Alex immediately regretted his decision.

The portal landed him directly in the middle of the Station of Sorrow where Sora and Roxas were fighting. The two powerful Keyblade wielders were struggling with all their might. Bright flashes of light filled the arena as both of them used their most powerful magic abilities. They were a blur as they dodged and attacked with unbelievable speed and skill.

Once Alex had grasped the situation – that between Roxas throwing him into the illusion and Namine letting him out, Sora and Roxas had gotten into a duel – he sought to find a way out so that he wouldn't get in the way of the fighting. Unfortunately, the arena was perfectly symmetrical and suspended in a void, with no obvious way out.

And to his horror, both Sora and Roxas noticed him.

"Alex!"

"YOU!"

Alex grimaced. "Oh crap."

Roxas charged for Alexander first. Every instinct in Alex's body shouted at him to dodge, but fear made him hesitate for a few moments before his brain caught up.

He threw himself to the left in a quick dive. Unfortunately, Roxas was just too fast. A bright blast of light knocked into him, sending him flying into the invisible barrier between the pillars. The first blow nearly knocked him out cold.

Thankfully, before Roxas could get another blow in, Sora managed to get between them and blocked Roxas's following strikes. Occupied as he was, Sora couldn't get away to heal Alex without exposing at least one of them, but at least he was keeping Roxas busy.

Roxas jumped back to the center of the right and raised both Keyblades to the air, letting out another burst of power. The floor lit up, and a huge pillar of white light shot up into the sky right in front of where Sora was standing. Then another one did the same thing, at another part of the arena. Then another one. And another one.

Sora, moving quickly, got back to Alex and said, "_Heal_." A wave of Curaga washed over Alex, healing his wounds and bringing up to full health – which wasn't very much, to be honest. "C'mon, Alex. Let's do this."

The spot where Roxas had blasted Alex was still sore. Alex shakily got to his feet, and Sora pulled him out of the way of one of Roxas's area attacks.

"Sora," Alex said quickly. "I can't. I'll just slow you down."

Roxas finished his long attack and dropped back to the ground.

"You can do this," Sora encouraged him. "Back me up."

Roxas charged at them. Alex and Sora dodged to either side of him, successfully this time. Roxas went after Alex next, who blocked a couple of attacks with his shield. That left Sora an opening to attack from behind, getting a few solid strikes with his Keyblade before Roxas dodged away.

Alex, going with the flow of the battle, charged at Roxas himself. But as he approached and brought his weapon back for a swing, he stumbled and tripped over his own feet. Roxas immediately took advantage and smacked Alex was a strong blow to the upper body, sending him reeling. Another blast of white light, and Alexander was on the floor again with almost no health.

This was not working.

Sora got in the way again, just barely keeping Roxas off Alexander by keeping the pressure on the Nobody. But it was an even match with no clear winner at the moment. And with someone to constantly protect for the entire fight, Sora was going to be distracted as the battle dragged on. Eventually, Roxas would have the upper hand.

Out of nowhere, Alex had an idea. A silly idea that probably wouldn't help Sora very much, but he had to give it a shot.

"S-SORA!" Alex screamed, and threw the Lockshield in Sora's general direction.

It went farther than Alex thought it would, landing just a couple of feet behind where Sora was standing. Sora blocked a couple of attacks from Roxas and rolled backwards, picking up the Lockshield as part of the motion. Within a second, Sora was holding the Lockshield firmly in his left hand while the Keyblade was in his right.

Then something strange happened. The Keyblade started glowing with a bright light, and the Lockshield became wreathed in a dark, wispy aura. The two forces converged around Sora himself in a strange twilight.

Alex propped himself up the best he could to watch what happened next. Sora charged forward at Roxas... and completely overpowered the Nobody's counterattack. Sora combo-attacked with both the Keyblade and Lockshield, striking fast and hard. Flashes of light and bursts of darkness accompanied his swings.

He watched from a distance for a little while before the pain became too much, and Alex slumped back, staring up at the dark void above their little arena.

"That... was unexpected..." he said quietly to himself. But given that he was tired and in a lot of pain, he wasn't really in the mood to question things.

From where he lay, Alex heard out a loud cry of pain that sounded like it was coming from Roxas. In the next moment, there was a great flash of light that blinded the entire area, and then they were back in the Castle Oblivion hall. Alexander did his best to get himself to his feet, since the fight seemed to be over.

Roxas coughed and glared at Sora from under his dark hood. "Come on, Sora. Do it! Finish me off."

Sora looked sadly at the Nobody and said nothing for a few seconds.

The Nobody was practically shaking with anger. "What are you – Ah!" And then he was somewhat calm again. "Hmm. I guess you've seen through the last illusion. ...Me. I'm data, just like the rest. Not even worth the effort, right? No point in destroying what never really existed... Heh."

Alex tilted his head. "The... heck are you talking about, dude?"

Sora rolled his eyes and glared at the Nobody. "For an illusion, you pack a punch! You weren't kidding me about showing me some real hurt."

Roxas didn't say anything, not quite sure how to respond.

Sora put a hand to his head. "But the hurt I just felt is more than bumps and bruises... While we were fighting, I could feel the hurt in you. Sharp, intense pain... But familiar, somehow – almost like it was my own. It felt like we'd connected – like we'd shared the same hurt."

He stretched a hand out towards the Nobody kneeling on the floor. "If it brings me closer to people like that, then... a little hurt can't be all that bad."

"'Can't be all that bad'?" Roxas repeated incredulously. Then he shook his head. "Heh, I give up. Here."

The Nobody tossed Sora one last card. This time, it had a graphic of Castle Oblivion itself on the front. "You pass, Sora. You understand hurt. Alexander's interference didn't stop you from learning at all."

Alex glared at Roxas. "I'm glad we got that cleared up," he muttered sarcastically.

Roxas nodded. "For what it's worth... I'm sorry. I guess I learned a little something about hurt, too: It's hard to let go of, when someone wants to help you."

Alexander just nodded back, still too angry to give a dignified response.

Roxas gestured at the card in Sora's hand. "Now, use this to find the truth."

"Wait, you mean it's over?" Sora asked. "You're done testing us?"

"My role was to see if you were ready to take ownership of the hurt inside you," Roxas explained. "And now that role is done. Nothing left for me to do but... go away."

Sora blinked. "Go home?"

The black-coated young man stood up. "I don't know if I have one, but... there's a place I'd like to be."

"Where?" Sora inquired.

Without speaking, Roxas just moved towards Sora, slowly fading away as he did so. Sora freaked out for a second as Roxas faded completely into him, and then the Nobody was gone.

Alex just watched.

Sora grasped at his chest. "What's this feeling?" he thought aloud. "Memories, but... not mine. ...I see a place. A sunset. Comforting... but also sad. This is where I spent my first... and my last..."

He let out a sigh. "Rest easy... Your hurt can be mine now."

Alexander stepped up to Sora, wincing a little bit. "His name was Roxas. It's a little hard to explain, but... he's a part of you."

Sora nodded. "I understand... I guess." He looked over at Alex. "Thanks for trying to help."

"My pleasure," Alex replied with some difficulty. "Now, if you don't mind..."

"_Heal_."

* * *

After a minute or two to rest and recover, the duo walked toward the door. Then they heard a voice behind them. "Sora! Alex!"

The boys turned around and faced King Mickey, who was running up to them. Alex blinked. "Well, hey! Didn't expect to see you!"

"I finally caught up to ya!" Mickey explained. "Sorry I'm late."

Alex chuckled. "Well, hate to say it, but you missed all the hard parts..."

Mickey looked down a little sadly. "I didn't mean for you to do all the work."

Alexander backtracked and held his hands up. "Woah, woah, it's cool."

Sora grinned and put his hands behind his head. "Don't even worry about it. Here, check this out!" And he showed the Castle Oblivion card to the diminutive mouse. "This card is supposed to lead us to the truth."

"Hmm..." Mickey muttered with a nod. "Then maybe we'll finally find out where that mysterious message came from."

"At least we have a good idea what it means," Alex pointed out. "We know the 'what'... Now it's time to find out the 'who.'"

Sora grinned. "Let's find out – together!"

A determined look appeared on Mickey's face.

The three of them faced the door, and there was a bright flash of light.

* * *

When the light faded, they were in a very bright room that was familiar to Alexander. In the center was a pale white device shaped like a flower pod, exactly the same as the container Naminé used to restore Sora's memories in Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II...

And standing next to the device was a short blonde girl wearing a white minidress.

"Who are you?" Sora asked as they approached. "It's like when I met Mickey... Do I... know you?"

Naminé smiled at them. "Nice to meet you. My name is Namine. You don't know me, but I know you."

Alex went wide-eyed. The voice was exactly the same as the one that had helped him out of the Hollow Bastion illusion. So Naminé herself HAD helped him out! Helped him out right into the fight with Roxas, but... still.

Sora looked confused. "Um... I don't really follow."

Alexander opened his mouth to explain, but Mickey held up a hand and stepped between Sora and the girl. "I'll explain. At one point, you lost all of your memories, Sora. Naminé here is the person who saved you."

"Wow," Sora said, surprised, "then I owe you a lot!"

"No, you really don't," she said sadly with a shake of her head. "It's true I put your scattered memories back together, but I'm also the one who took them apart in the first place. Not only that, the bugs that appeared in Jiminy's journal – those were my fault, too."

"What do you mean?" Mickey asked.

"It all began with these memories that were sleeping way down deep in Sora's heart," Naminé began to explain. A bright ball of sparkling light appeared out of nowhere in front of her, floating in front of the group.

Sora gazed at the ball of light with a curious look. "These are my memories?"

"No. Not yours," the memory witch corrected. "These belong to people connected to you."

"Uh... What?" Sora mumbled, backing up a bit. "Isn't it weird for somebody else's memories to be inside me?"

Alexander smirked. "Once you can remove and replace memories, I'd say everything else is just fair game, Sora," he commented wryly.

"Well, it's not usually possible," Naminé answered. "When I first found them while repairing your memory, I thought I'd made a mistake. But all the evidence I found proved they belong in your heart, where they've been sleeping a long... long time." She looked a little worried now. "One day, Sora will have to call them to the surface. They're important memories... but very dangerous ones."

"Dangerous... how?" Mickey inquired further.

Naminé didn't look sure of how to answer for a second. "These memories are too painful. Handled the wrong way, they could damage Sora's heart – even break it." She looked directly at Sora. "I needed you to find a way to face that kind of hurt. That's why I left the message."

"_'Their hurting will be...'_ etcetera," Alex said. "So... that was you? And this whole thing's been about facing the pain of these other memories?"

"When I unraveled Sora and the others' memories," Naminé continued, "you remember it also erased the words from Jiminy's journal? Well, that shows how deeply the journal and Sora are connected. When I took Sora's memories apart, they stayed in his heart – and in the journal even after the text was gone. That's why you were able to render them as data."

"But the data was a mess because of all the bugs," Mickey pointed out. "Jiminy never wrote any of that stuff down."

"No... that was me." The girl sighed a little bit. "When I added these memories to the journal, I added 'hurt.' I thought that... maybe if you fought the bugs that sprung from these memories, you might learn to face the hurt in the memories themselves."

Mickey laughed. "Gosh, you sure went through a lot of trouble."

Naminé now looked sadder than ever. "I'm sorry... I wish I could have told you all this in person. But the real me is gone now."

Sora and Alex looked at each other, then at the other two in the group. "Um... guys?" Sora interrupted. "This is all way over my head..."

"I'm... not getting this either," Alexander said hesitantly.

Mickey looked at Alex, surprised. "You mean you haven't seen this before? This wasn't a game for you?"

"Uh... not... really?" Alex mumbled, not sure what to say.

Mickey didn't say anything for a few seconds, actually somewhat shocked. Then he became thoughtful. "So... you don't actually know what any of this will mean, then..."

"Wait, was that it?" Alexander wondered. "You thought I'd played this particular thing... as a game, so I'd know everything that happened and all the answers?"

The King drooped a little. "...Yeah. Kinda. But..." He let out a sigh. "Even on the slim chance you hadn't played this as a game, I thought your knowledge would at least be able to help a little bit."

Alexander didn't say anything in response. A long silence fell upon the group.

Then Sora shook his head. "I am SO lost."

Naminé laughed.

After taking a few more moments to process everything, Alexander took a deep breath. "Well, maybe this was a game I haven't played, or a game in development... So it's possible that the game exists in my world right now, but I just don't know what happens in it."

Mickey nodded. "Okay."

"Remember, you did it," Naminé cut in. "You learned how to face the hurt."

"I did?" Sora asked.

"Some people think pain is something you can just wipe away..." Naminé looked at Alex. "...and sometimes, maybe, you can. But not all pain can be erased. The only way to deal with it is to accept it head-on. And if the hurt is too great for you to bear it alone – well, then you turn to a friend close to your heart."

"Because the hurt will bring us closer together," Sora added, "and make us stronger." He nodded and looked at the ball of light with determination. "Right, let's give it a try!"

Naminé was immediately confused. "Huh?"

"With the memories you found," Sora clarified. "I'm ready to accept them, no matter how painful they are."

Alex stepped forward. "And if there's the off chance I can interpret these memories, maybe I can make it even easier, right?"

Sora grinned. "Right."

Naminé looked a little humbled. "Sora..."

"Wait!" Mickey shouted. "I'll join you."

"Okay!" Sora exclaimed, getting pumped up for the trial ahead now.

"Thank you," Naminé said with a smile. She gestured at the ball of light. "Touch this, and the memories locked inside will flow into your hearts."

The three guys gathered around the orb and, after a moment to coordinate their movements, touched it at the same time. Sora immediately flinched. "Nngh! Aah!?"

Alex and Mickey weren't feeling quite the same amount of pain, but they felt it sympathetically. "Stay strong, Sora!" Mickey encouraged the Keyblade wielder.

Light filled their vision, rendering them completely blinded. Alex found that even when he blinked, he could still see nothing but the light ahead, making an odd effect.

Then, slowly, two hazy figures appeared in the light. "Who..." Sora mumbled, his voice simply coming from somewhere to the right of Alex. "Ah!"

"These are hidden truths that Sora has been keeping locked away deep inside him," Naminé explained once more, her voice coming from Alex's left. "Remember, these memories aren't his."

Alex tried looking around for the others, but still couldn't see anything other than the light and the vague silhouettes. He eventually gave up on figuring out where he was in space and focused on the images appearing before his eyes. They were mostly black with brightly colored heads, so he guessed they were wearing Organization cloaks. And now that he thought about it, they could only be none other than Axel and Roxas!

So they were finally getting to the 'who' of this problem. These people's hurting needed to be mended when they returned to end it.

The images of Axel and Roxas faded, only to be replaced by an unfamiliar girl in a black coat and another girl in a... white minidress. "Naminé, that's you!" Sora exclaimed. "Who's the other girl? She feels so... familiar... and..." Other feelings struck the group to accompany the images as Sora focused more on them. "W-wow, something terrible happened, didn't it?"

"These people are waiting for Sora – the only one who can put an end to their hurt," Naminé went on. "DiZ told me... he hid something inside you during the year you were asleep. I asked him what, and all he would say was that he was 'clearing his conscience.'"

Alex studied the images a little more closely. Naminé was definitely the girl on the right, but the girl on the left was a complete mystery, no matter how much he guessed at her identity. Was this a character from yet another game he hadn't played?

"Sora must be the key to saving the people you saw – and the ones you're about to see," Naminé said.

The two girls faded out of view, and three new figures appeared. A tall young man on the left, a slightly shorter young woman on the right, and... a lookalike for Roxas in the center.

Mickey gasped. "It can't be!"

"Mickey, maybe you know how much they're hurting," Naminé guessed. "These three were keys, too. They were connected to the truth behind the Keyblade. And... they're still connected, Sora. Somewhere way down deep inside of you."

Alexander, unfortunately, didn't recognize any of them. The one in the middle looked like a complete double for Roxas, but dressed utterly differently. He _felt_ like a different person, too, with a different personality. So who was this guy? And who were these other two people? Characters from yet ANOTHER game?

Slowly, their vision cleared, and Alex and the group found themselves right back where they were in the memory chamber. Sora blinked and looked back at Naminé. "Funny... I feel as though I've met them," he said, referring to the last three people in the memory.

"Yes," Namine answered. "Two of them, you have met. As for the third... I never realized it, but... you and he share a very special connection."

Sora looked down thoughtfully. "Yeah..."

After watching Sora's reactions for a little while, Mickey turned to address Naminé. "You said Sora has to call these memories to the surface. Is it time?"

Naminé shook her head. "I can't say for sure. But I do know... a day must come when they must rise from their sleep. And then, the only one who can save them will be Sora."

"The bond they all share... that's going to be the key, right?" Mickey elaborated. "Don't worry, Naminé. I'll make sure I pass this on to Sora – you know, the one in the outside world!"

That statement didn't slip by Alexander unnoticed. "The... what?"

"Mm. Please do," Naminé implored the mouse.

Alexander could no longer keep his suspicions in check. "Alright, that's it – what in the world is going on? What's this about Jiminy's journal, all the talk about data, and the outside world? What's happening?"

Mickey sighed. "I wondered when this moment was coming... Gosh, this must be what Alex felt like when he had to explain it to others..."

* * *

For the construct known as Data-Alex, the revelation was mind-blowing.

He was not real. He was just a representation of data. Nothing about this was real, except for Mickey.

That would explain why the portals looked so weird, and what Roxas, Namine, and Mickey had been referencing this entire time. It also explained how he, in Kingdom Hearts II, could go back and interact with the original Kingdom Hearts version of Sora.

It answered all of his questions.

Well, not really. But after that bombshell, he didn't really have the energy to ask questions anymore.

"A datascape within a universe created from a video game in the real world," Alex muttered. "There are at least three layers of reality here, and they are ALL confusing."

"That's what I mean by relaying it to Sora in the outside world," Mickey said. "What you two have learned here, people on the outside need to know."

Alex hung his head and groaned. He wasn't sure _how_ he was supposed to take an existential crisis like this, but he was settling for "not very well" at the moment.

Mickey smiled. "Well, I can tell you that your actions in our world have already helped three of the people we saw!"

Alexander looked back up at the mouse. "How?"

"Because of your influence," Mickey replied, "Roxas and Naminé have been awakened in the minds of Sora and Kairi. They might not have bodies of their own, but they're not forgotten."

The Data-Naminé standing near them gasped at this.

"And Axel..." Mickey added. "Why, you saved his life! Instead of sacrificing himself to save Sora, you recruited him, which led to him discovering his heart again!"

Alex was dumbstruck. "I... I did that?"

"Yep!" Mickey replied with a smile. "You followed Sora all the way to the end of his story, and lived to tell the tale! You became a strong fighter in your own right, too!"

Now Alex couldn't say anything, so shocked was he. As he reflected upon this new information, he was forced to look upon the whole datascape scenario in a new light. The datascape was made with Jiminy's journals. Alex was a part of the second adventure, which meant he was a part of the second journal.

He, Data-Alex, was here because he was now a permanent part of this world's history.

"Uh... alrighty then, heh heh," Alex said, blushing a little from embarrassment. "I'm... not sure what to say to that."

Naminé gave him a little bow. "Thank you, Alexander."

Sora nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Alex."

Alexander stepped back a little, wanting to hide away from the praise that he didn't feel he deserved, that really bothered him deeply. But he reconsidered, took a deep breath, and faced them directly. "...Thanks. That means a lot to me, coming from you."

Naminé sighed. "Well..." She seemed ready to say goodbye.

"Oh, just a second!" Sora cut in before she could say any more. "Our promise... Your promise to the me I don't know. You kept it, right?"

"...Our promises are forever," Naminé said a little sadly. "I owe him this much. For all the... For all those people that I hurt."

"So... what happens to you?" Sora asked. "The one that's right here?"

"I'm really just data made to pass along a message," Data-Naminé replied sadly. "I shouldn't exist right now in this journal at all. And now the record of me will disappear." She steeled herself a little, and said, "But when you pass my message on to the other Sora, just remember to tell him the things that you've seen, that you've felt. If you do that, then I'll be at rest."

"Along with everybody connected to Sora," the Data-Sora construct finished. He then smiled and said, "Naminé, you got it!"

The girl chuckled and smiled happily at the group. Bits of data began to gather around her, swirling around her form.

"Oh yeah," Sora said suddenly. "I almost forgot – I have a message for you, too. 'Thank you.'"

Naminé looked surprised for a moment, then smiled with the happiest expression Alex had ever seen. The light and data coalesced around her until her form was a bright light, and then it shot up into the ceiling as a bright pillar.

Alex sighed. "Well, that's that." He looked to Mickey. "Do you know where the real Alex is now?"

Mickey thought for a moment "He should be back in the real world right now."

"Hmm." Alexander put a hand to his chin. "Well, if you find him, tell him to keep an eye out for any new Kingdom Hearts games being made. I may not know about them yet..." He grinned at Mickey. "...but in my world, the internet is a very powerful thing."

Mickey smiled. "Will do."

* * *

_I wanted to tell you right away about memories from the past that sleep within you, and about the pieces that will tie you to your future._

_Sora, Riku, Kairi... The truth behind the Keyblade has found its way through so many people, and now I know that it rests in your hearts._

_Sora... You are who you are because of those people, but they're hurting, and you're the only one who can ends their sadness. They need you. It's possible that all your journeys so far have been preparing you for this great new task that's waiting for you._

_I should have known there were no coincidences – only links in a much larger chain of events. And now the door to your next journey is ready to be opened._

Sora – the real Sora of the present – looked up from the note in the bottle at the sound of footsteps on the wooden bridge connecting the paopu fruit tree island to the main island. Riku walked next to the tree and stood there, looking out over the ocean. "Your mind's made up?" Riku asked.

"Yeah," Sora replied.

Kairi came across the bridge and joined them. "Sora," she called out softly.

Slightly startled, Sora jumped off the leaning tree and walked over to Kairi. "Kairi, I..." he tried speaking, but couldn't quite figure out the words to say.

Fortunately, Kairi didn't need any explanation. She simply nodded.

Sora smiled and took a couple more steps towards her. "It's just... they really need me. I have to go. I am who I am... because of them."

Riku let out a chuckle.

Kairi just let out a mock sigh and smiled. Slowly, she took one of Sora's hands in her own and enclosed it with her other hand, placing the star-shaped thalassa shell charm there.

"See you soon."


	3. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Mickey strolled down the halls of Disney Castle, rolled-up note in hand, heading toward the Gummi Ship hangar. He needed to deliver this message to the denizens of Destiny Islands.

As he passed in front of the massive double doors to the audience chamber, he was interrupted by Chip and Dale running up to him, gasping heavily, and jumping to get his attention.

"Your Majesty!" Dale shouted.

"There's something strange at the Hall of the Cornerstone!" Chip shouted in turn.

Mickey nodded and pocketed the note. "Okay. Take me to it. And bring me the Royal Magician and the Captain of the Royal Knights."

* * *

There was nothing wrong with the Cornerstone of Light itself. But behind it, at the very back of the room, was a black and blue swirling portal that was almost the size of the Cornerstone.

"A big light appeared, and then that hole opened!" Chip explained.

Dale dashed into the hall, with Donald Duck and Goofy right behind him. Donald flinched away in shock. "Woah! That can't be good!"

Goofy looked to the King. "How do ya wanna deal with this, Your Majesty?"

Mickey glared at the portal. "There are no coincidences. This must have appeared here for a reason, and I'm going to find out." He turned to Donald and Goofy. "Are you with me?"

Donald and Goofy both nodded at him with hesitation. "Of course, Your Majesty!" Donald replied.

"Every step of the way!" Goofy added.

The King didn't need any more confirmation than that. He instantly started running towards the portal, Keyblade in hand, with Donald and Goofy keeping up behind him.

As a group, they all jumped through the dark portal.

* * *

The portal brought them to a flat desert plateau, cast orange and brown by the setting sun. Tall, blocky rock formations surrounded the plateau, just as bare as the ground they stood on. Small sandstorms rolled across the cracked earth, obscuring parts of the area as they rolled by.

While Goofy and Donald looked around with confused looks, Mickey just stared wide-eyed at their surroundings. He recognized this place. He'd barely seen this place in nearly a decade.

The Keyblade Graveyard. The Badlands.

Goofy pointed off into the distance. "Hey, look!"

One of the sandstorms passed by completely, revealing a strange sight. A good distance away from the Disney trio stood a cloaked figure. The stranger wore a black robe with red trim, and seemed to be clutching their side and limping slightly, as though they'd been injured in some minor way.

At the stranger's feet was a pile of armor pieces, colored gold, red, and brown. There was enough armor in the pile to cover a man's entire body, but the individual parts had been separated and scattered across the desert floor.

Once again, Mickey recognized this sight. The others did not. "Who's that?" Donald asked nervously, keeping his voice as low as he could.

The King summoned his Keyblade, sensing trouble. Donald and Goofy did not need to be told twice, and brought out their weapons in turn. Donald held his staff at the ready, while Goofy held up his shield in a defensive position.

The stranger in the distance took notice of them for a moment, then looked back down at the armor. The figure – it appeared to be a man – rolled up his sleeves a little bit, revealing black gloves with... strange red markings on the palms.

The man then clapped his hands, knelt down, and placed his hands on the pile of armor.

Blue sparks enveloped the armor pieces entirely, followed by the man himself, then a bit of the surrounding area. Mickey and the gang had to shield their eyes from the light.

Then the light faded, and an entirely different figure stood before them. The armor was now off the ground, covering the stranger's body completely. The only piece remaining was a weapon, sitting flat on the ground. The now-armored figure reached down and grabbed the weapon by the hilt, pulling it up from the sand and rock.

It was a Keyblade. A gold and black Keyblade with a steel-gray hilt.

Mickey gasped. "Who are you?" he called across the desert.

The armored figure ignored them and pulled out a cellphone, bringing it to his ear. "I have completed my objective," the man's gruff voice spoke from the armor. "What's your status?"

There was silence for a few moments. Mickey and his friends started to move towards the armored stranger.

"So she's on schedule? Good. What about you?" the man continued. There was more silence. "Then perhaps you should just–" He seemed to get cut off by the person on the other line. "Yes, yes, sorry. I'll leave that to you."

The man looked up at Mickey. "I seem to have guests. I'll test this... new toy out and get back to you." And he ended the call there, putting away the cellphone.

The trio got back into their fighting stance. "Who are you?" Mickey repeated.

The armored figure finally looked down at them, though his entire face was covered. "Call me Hyperion."

"What are you doing here?" Mickey yelled at him.

"I'm taking this armor," the man said darkly, circling around the Disney trio. "If you have a problem with that..."

Mickey charged forward. With a "Hya!" he swung the golden Keyblade at Hyperion. The armored fake brought up the Ends of the Earth Keyblade and blocked Mickey's attack. Mickey didn't stop, striking with a few more fast swings even before he hit the ground. Then he just bounced up and attacked some more, not giving Hyperion a chance to retaliate.

Donald and Goofy joined the battle soon after. Goofy tossed his shield once Mickey gave him and opening, the heavy weapon slamming into Hyperion hard. Donald raised his staff to the air and cast Firaga, sending a huge fireball at Hyperion that impacted with great force.

With some distance between them, Hyperion retaliated with an attack of his own. "You call that fire? _Magma Bomb_!" He raised his Keyblade to the air, and a volley of fireballs fired out from the tip at the three fighters. Mickey did his best to dodge, Donald tried but failed a bit, and Goofy took the brunt of the attacks with his shield.

Then Hyperion stabbed his Keyblade into the ground. "_Gravitonne_!"

The trio was forced to stop moving as, out of nowhere, they felt a massive force pushing them down into the ground, as though gravity had been multiplied tenfold. The force pushed them into the ground, rendering them helpless for a few seconds before the effect stopped.

The man in Terra's armor laughed at the sight of the three of them on the ground, temporarily paralyzed by pain. Twirling the Keyblade in his hand, he said, "It seems this arrangement will work out just fine. And I'm only going to get stronger..."

Mickey pushed himself up and glared at the enemy. "What do you want?" he demanded weakly.

"Hmph," the man grunted. "Do you know of Alexander?"

Mickey said nothing.

"If you see him, let him know..." The man became wreathed in darkness as a black portal appeared at his feet. "...he will soon pay for what he's done."

The stranger, calling himself Hyperion, disappeared... taking the real Terra's armor and Keyblade with him.

Soon after, the strange black portal that had taken them to this place reappeared back where they'd started, apparently ready to bring them back to Disney Castle.

The King and his friends finally got to their feet. They were alone once again in the Badlands.

"What just happened?" Donald managed to ask.

"I don't know," Mickey admitted. He turned and looked at his friends. "But Yen Sid might know something about this."

* * *

Mickey Mouse had already planned to visit Yen Sid at the earliest opportunity, mainly to inform him of what they learned from the datascape. Fortunately, Yen Sid was easily found at the Mysterious Tower.

The royal mouse bowed in front of the wizard's desk, and Yen Sid nodded back in acknowledgment. Despite how far they'd come, they were still master and student in a way.

"Yen Sid," Mickey finally spoke, a serious expression on his face. "I think we're finally close to figuring out where Ven's heart is."

"Is that so?" Yen Sid remarked. "Then that leaves only Terra."

Mickey winced. But he stayed on track – one thing at a time. "Right. And we've gotta save all three of them."

Yen Sid thought for a moment. "Hmm... I sense there are a great many things on your mind, Mickey. Tell me of them – and do not rush."

"Alright," Mickey replied. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Y'see... It's about Alex."

Yen Sid had no reaction, simply allowing Mickey to continue at his own pace.

"I know we're all part of a game with a story, and so far those stories have all had happy endings," the mouse continued. "But those stories involved a lot of pain and hardship before they got better. At the time, we couldn't be sure if we were gonna come out alright or not."

The grand wizard closed his eyes in contemplation. "Doing something as monumental as restoring the worlds... or bringing down Organization XIII... It is the kind of task that tests the will of those who pursue it. Even if you know about it in advance, some hardship cannot be avoided."

"But some hardship CAN be avoided," Mickey said in counterpoint. "Axel was restored because Alexander prevented him from making a sacrifice."

"Hmm..." Yen Sid murmured. "So you wish to make use of Alexander's information to avoid pain in the future."

Mickey sighed. "Well... that's just it. I'm pretty sure Alex _doesn't_ know a lot about the future. Not right now, anyway." He steeled himself a little, allowed himself to be more hopeful. "But in the real world, that information is out there, and maybe Alex can find it!" There was a pause, and Mickey shrunk back a little. "That's what I was thinking, anyway."

Yen Sid nodded. "Anything else?" he asked after a moment.

There was one other thing. A big thing. Mickey took on a more determined look. "Yes. About Terra. Did you know his armor and Keyblade were in the Badlands?"

Yen Sid just nodded again.

"Well, someone stole it!" Mickey declared.

The wizard showed a rare moment of mild surprise. "Strange. I was under the impression that the armor was still possessed by the boy's Lingering Will. In order to take the armor, one would first need to overpower it. Not an easy task, knowing Terra and how he was towards the end."

"He used some strange technique to put it on – not like regular Keyblade Armor," Mickey said, recalling what he saw. "And then he attacked us. The magic he used was strange, too. Donald had never seen anything like it. And..." Mickey recalled the cellphone. "...I think he had some partners, but they were in other places."

Yen Sid grunted, his expression now a stern look of angry determination. "Hmm... There is great power in those items, if one has the will to control them. It seems that power is starting to fall into the wrong hands." He stood up and slowly moved to the window, saying, "However, these items are impossible to find at random. The only one who might know is... Yes, I fear this may be one of Xehanort's latest ploys."

"What? Xehanort?" Mickey responded.

Yen Sid turned back to the mouse. "And Alexander is deeply connected to these... new invaders."

"But Xehanort's two halves are gone," Mickey pointed out. "There was Ansem, who commanded the Heartless... and Xemnas, who commanded the Nobodies. Didn't Sora and Alex defeat them both?"

"Correct, those two met their end," Yen Sid confirmed. "However, therein lies exactly our problem. Their destruction guarantees the original Xehanort's reconstruction. Xehanort's heart, one seized by his Heartless half, is now free. And his body, which had become his Nobody, has been vanquished. Both halves will now be returned to the whole. In short... this means Xehanort will return."

"And you think... you think maybe he's gonna try something?" Mickey asked.

"A man like Xehanort will have left many roads open," Yen Sid remarked.

Mickey became absolutely determined. "Well, it doesn't matter what he cooks up. Me and Sora, we'll be ready, and Riku, too! And once Alex comes back...!"

Yen Sid held up a hand, and Mickey quieted down. "Yes," Yen Sid replied, "Sora and Riku are indeed strong. But... not true Keyblade Masters, like you. Nor has Alexander truly mastered the Lockshield. Tell me... would a single one of you suffice if what you faced was not a single one of him?"

This shocked Mickey immensely. "What?" Mickey gasped, running up and slamming his hands on the desk. "What do you mean?"

Yen Sid looked directly at Mickey. "Mickey, I have two tasks for you, and time is of the essence. First, please summon Sora hither. Riku as well."

"Of course," Mickey replied, "but... why?"

The old wizard leveled the most intense look at Mickey Mouse. "To show us the Mark of Mastery."

* * *

Mickey paced back and forth in the Disney Castle study. Donald and Goofy stood at attention in front of him, despite being a little confused about it. "Ya called for us, Yer Majesty?" Goofy asked.

"I've got a very important task for the both of ya," Mickey explained, eventually coming to a stop. "Yen Sid tells me Alexander is back in the game worlds."

Donald and Goofy exchanged a look. "He's here?" Donald inquired.

Mickey shook his head. "No. In a completely different world! In the time that he's been gone, Alex has Interfered in the stories of three new game worlds."

The duo was shocked. "WOAH!" Goofy exclaimed. "It's only been about... a week! How did he manage THAT?"

"Yen Sid said he stayed in the real world for a while and then came back," Mickey said, "and now he's been going to new worlds back-to-back. He's currently Interfering in a fourth world now, and Yen Sid said that... he was in some serious danger."

Donald nodded. "What do you need us to do?" he rasped.

"First," Mickey declared, "I want you to check on our friends in Radiant Garden, and then on Alex's friends in Twilight Town. They might know more about what he's been up to, or if any of Hyperion's partners have made an appearance."

Goofy saluted the King. "We're on it."

Mickey smiled. "Great! Then I want you to go to the world where Alex currently is, help him through the rest of that game's story, and then get his help with this whole Hyperion problem. Yen Sid says he's the key to figuring out who they are and how we can stop them, so hopefully he'll know where to start!"

"What will you be doing?" Donald wondered. "Are you coming with us?"

"Nope," Mickey said. "Yen Sid gave me a job of my own."

Donald and Goofy nodded and saluted. "We won't let you down, Your Majesty!" Donald announced. The two of them pivoted towards the door and marched, opening the door...

...only to find Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck standing on the other side of the door, their hands on their hips.

"Uh-oh," Donald mumbled.

"And just WHERE do you think you're going?" Daisy demanded, intimidating Donald and Goofy back into the room. "Off on another adventure? Without TELLING me?"

Mickey gave Minnie a sheepish look. "Oh... you were listening, huh?"

Minnie took her hands off her hips and gracefully entered the room. "Mickey... I understand if you need to go on an important journey to protect the worlds. I can handle it." She gestured to where Daisy was chewing Donald out. "But it's not very fair to the people that are important to you."

Mickey gulped. Donald was a friend, and Mickey didn't mean to put him in trouble so often like this. But the fact that he hadn't even _considered_ what Daisy or Minnie might think put him in a massive amount of guilt. "Aw, shucks... I'm sorry, dear."

Minnie just smiled, the kind of smile that made you feel bad even when you'd technically been forgiven.

Goofy looked between the two couples, and eventually struck upon an idea. "I got it!" he declared, pulling Donald and Daisy apart. "I'LL go and check on Alex myself!"

The conflict came to a screeching halt. "WWWHAT?" Donald screeched.

Daisy was far happier about this. "You _would_?" she gasped, and gave Goofy a great big hug. "You're the best, Goofy!"

"Are you sure?" Donald asked again. Truth be told, he wanted to do right by his sweetheart, but he was very unsure about letting his friend tackle a potentially dangerous mission alone.

"Don't worry about me," Goofy reassured him. "I ain't the Captain of the Guard for nothin'! I'll take on this mission for the both of us!"

Donald took Goofy's hand in his own. "Thanks, Goofy," the duck said.

Daisy placed one of her hands on theirs. "Be safe, you hear?"

Mickey joined in, placing a hand on Daisy's. "I know you can do it."

Finally, Minnie placed her hand on top of theirs, forming a five-way handshake. "Come back to us soon, Goofy."

Goofy nodded his head vigorously. "You betcha! I won't let any of you down!"

"Excellent!" Mickey rejoiced, looking at everyone in the group. "Well then... let's get to work."

_Reunion._

**The Interference Re:Coded**

**END**


End file.
